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FV 514 warrior (arty observation post vehicle) questions


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Hi I couldn´t really find an answer in the manual, so:

What is the actual in-game impact of this vehicle?

Should it spot faster than, say. the vanilla warrior?

Does the mast thingy make it possible to look over berms/walls (I don´t think so)?

Are arty stikes more precise ( I would expect this)?

Does the arty observer unit have to be onboard to make it work or do the special spotting capabilities reside with the crew?

Thanx in advance!

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I think it works the ame way as the Bradley FIST vehicle. If your spotter is in the vehicle and unbuttoned the spotter gets a time benefit (not the vehicle itself, but the spotter). You might get improved spotting ability, but frankly the spotting bonus is so subtle in the game that I just can't detect it. Its not hit-over-the-head obvious like an buttoned/unbuttoned BT fast tank was in CMBB. Its been awhile since I did any testing on this.

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Technically, it ought to:

Spot better, as it has better TI sights, hence no cannon.

Be able to spot fall of shot out of line of sight (MSTAR can see the shells coming in)

Detect moving vehicles out to 30km including at night and in bad weather (MSTAR again)

Do all this under armour.

Radar stuff is all a bit complicated though.

In game it helps call in arty quicker and more accurately, by a bit.

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I think you can only see a difference over really long distances. The accuracy bonus that I noticed anyway, is when the spotting rounds start to fall. With those FO vehicles the first round seem to nearly always land on target so that the barrage proper can begin pretty soon. "Normal" spotting can take a bit longer before the spotting rounds fall on target. Just an impression though.

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stickypixie,

I got some spare time I didn't think I would have tonight, if you want I can setup a call for fire test to see how good a dismounted FO does in comparison to a mounted FO.

I'm thinking testing to see how many spotting rounds are required before firing for effect and a yes/no on if the fire for effect is accurate, insofar as I've noticed more fire missions landing "off" lately. Might be me just noticing things I didn't before, might be something new in 1.20.

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stickypixie,

I got some spare time I didn't think I would have tonight, if you want I can setup a call for fire test to see how good a dismounted FO does in comparison to a mounted FO.

I'm thinking testing to see how many spotting rounds are required before firing for effect and a yes/no on if the fire for effect is accurate, insofar as I've noticed more fire missions landing "off" lately. Might be me just noticing things I didn't before, might be something new in 1.20.

That would be cool to know actually. I tried a small one myself and I only noticed a minor difference at around 2000m. Try different weather conditions and lighting conditions too if you're really bored. I'm really tired right now. I'll stop messing around on the pc.

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-Clear weather, gentle breeze, daylight.

-Piece used was an AS90 in all fire missions.

-Point targets used, one at 500m the other at 2000m.

-Both FOOs were Group HQs, veteran, no morale or leadership bonuses.

-Mounted FOO team was turned out of the Artillery Observation vehicle.

-Each FOO team made four calls for fire on both the targets.

-All missions were first round fire for effect and on-target.

Doing hazy, gentle breeze, night now.

EDIT: Special note, in my initial testing I had someone other than the Group HQ calling missions in. I noticed that even when mounted the non-Group HQ FOO teams did not recieve the reduction in time calling for fire. They had the same time as the dismounted teams. The dismounted FOO Group HQ had the standard time as well, although I expected that.

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-Hazy weather, gentle breeze, night.

-Same setup as before.

-Each FOO team made four calls for fire on both the targets.

-All missions were first round fire for effect and on-target.

At this point I think it's safe to say that difference is subtle, if simulated at all. Either that or I should be gambling right now.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I think you can only see a difference over really long distances. The accuracy bonus that I noticed anyway, is when the spotting rounds start to fall. With those FO vehicles the first round seem to nearly always land on target so that the barrage proper can begin pretty soon. "Normal" spotting can take a bit longer before the spotting rounds fall on target. Just an impression though.

Total newbie to CM:SF here but have experience of using MSTAR as an Arty Observer in the light role. You have hit the nail on the head here of the effect that it should have on speeding up the adjustment process and enabling FFE sooner especially over longer ranges.

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The most important issue is whether the mast on the vehicle has any effect on LOS in game. I'd love to be able to park the vehicle just behind the crest of a hill and be able to call in fire missions.

Interesting question.

I want to make sure I get this right It sounds like testing this and the general LOS/Adjust Fire speed at distance will answer the question. Does that sound right?

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Interesting question.

I want to make sure I get this right It sounds like testing this and the general LOS/Adjust Fire speed at distance will answer the question. Does that sound right?

I am assuming that the real life purpose of the mast is to enable the vehicle to do its job from a safe position. If it is just a tall antenna for communications then I guess the vehicle isn't supposed to work this way.

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Before I start testing can someone confirm the Mast function?

From wikipedia.org:

FV 514 Mechanised Artillery Observation Vehicle. This is operated by the Royal Artillery as an Artillery Observation Post Vehicle (OPV) and is fitted with mast-mounted Man-packable Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar (MSTAR) and Position and Azimuth Determining System (PADS), with Image Intensifying and Infra Red equipment. The only armament is the 7.62 mm machine gun, as the 30 mm Rarden cannon is replaced with a dummy weapon. This allows space for the targeting and surveillance equipment while still keeping largely the same outward appearance of a standard Warrior in order to avoid becoming a priority target.

That mast is probably the MSTAR.

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That's what I thought. I always dismount my FO so he can get LOS from a good vantage point. The only time I would keep the FO in the Warrior or Bradley is if I am reasonably confident the enemy doesn't have any long range AT assets. A dummy gun may fool a real life enemy, but it doesn't fool the AI.

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The Warrior FO Mast is not functional. Vehicle LOS is drawn from the turret. It may not be practical to change LOS without messing up LOF.

I presume that MSTAR can only "see" moving targets. So i guess the appropriate test of its capabilities would be spotting by an arty observer team from one edge of a very large map to a moving vehicle on the far edge with and without the vehicle.

I also think that the MSTAR capability is not modelled (in detail) because its range (40km) far exceeds the size of CMSF battlefields.

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That's what I thought. I always dismount my FO so he can get LOS from a good vantage point. The only time I would keep the FO in the Warrior or Bradley is if I am reasonably confident the enemy doesn't have any long range AT assets. A dummy gun may fool a real life enemy, but it doesn't fool the AI.

This brings up an interesting point. I wonder if the AI could be adjusted so that it would treat such a FO vehicle variant exactly the same as any other vehicle of the same base type, unless the AI were close enough that it could get a positive ID on the vehicle's exact type? At which point it would make sense for the AI to treat the FO vehicle as a high threat priority target.

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